Lessons from the STAO conference

I need to drink 1500 L of red wine each day to maximize the heart benefits, and I'm way behind.

We are overdue for a peak in sun spot activity.

1 ppb (part per billion) is equivalent to 1 second in 32 years.

Wealth increases the risk of breast cancer. So does healthy living. (Living longer is the risk.)

If you eat 14,000 marachino cherries for 70 years, the red dye in them will give you a thyroid tumour. And, that red dye come from crushed cactus insects. Yum!

We need to stop teaching the water cycle as closed and infinite, because in practice it is neither. Fresh water is lost to dumping sewage and storm water into oceans, irrigation and sale diverts water from aquifers and lakes, and the "secondary trade" moves water around the world in foods and other goods.

review of STAO seminars

Everyone I spoke to agreed, every time we chose a seminar, we felt guilty about the 14 others we were missing. Here's what I made it to see out of the 250 sessions (timeline order):

VC TRIUMF, Home Canada's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics
Dr. Stanley Yen
Historical examples of curiosity-driven [pure] research... ended up being incredibly practical.

Life is a Risky Business
Dr. Ariel Fenster, Dept. of Chemistry, McGill University -- Office of Science and Society
We worry... science teachers are well placed to sort out the myths from facts, and to show that the real dangers are not always where they are thought to be.
[this was wildly popular]

Technology in the Differentiated Science Classroom
Luciano Lista, Avon-Maitland District School Board
[Smart boards, Jing]

Subversive Science
Phil Johnston, Barrie North Collegiate
...integrating traditional tech dept with the new science program... sneaking science across the boundaries.
[Brilliant, too bad administrations have not formalized credit for this highly affective DI.]

Strategies for an Inclusive Science Classroom
Barbara Nixon, Judith Burt, Sue Wessenger, OISE / UT
[strategies for cultural inclusion]

Inflate the Grasshopper... Decorate the Pig
John Caranci, Retired
FUN... demonstrations from the Ont Physics Teachers Assn.
[overwhelming success, dozens of low on $ high on "wow" demos]

The Blended Science Classroom
Clayton Ellis, Peel District School Board
[a bevy of on- and off-line software for DI as well as learning management systems such as Moodle and angel. I took too many notes.]

Celebrating International Year of Astronomy 2009 in your Classroom
John Percy, U of T, Astronomy and Astrophysics
[Two things stuck with me: 1) how come I always find out about the IYof... in Nov, and 2) what a dramatic change (or not) scientists experience since the days of self-publishing and patrons.]

Demos by the Dozens
Duncan Foster, Sir William Mulock SS
[Entertainment for the science geek!
overwhelming success, packed, and perfectly timed. Filled with cheap effective "wow" ideas that match current curricular expectations.]

Discipline, Classroom Management, and Motivational Activities in Applied Level Classrooms
Erica Kresin, David Gervais, Sharbot Lake HS
[Imagine, the very things we think they can't handle are the things that motivate them most: science fairs! And wow, do they know what they're talking about!]

Effective use of Games in the Science Classroom
Paul Elliott, Trent U, School of Education and Professional Learning
A dozen games kids will _ask_ to play, even though they're learning.
[overwhelming success, even at "double session" length]

Tamed a monster manuscript

Wrestled a monster 56 page manuscript down to the required 23 (and good stuff had to go!).